Month 7 (week 28-31) and today's L&D scare

What a crazy and busy month this has been!   It feels like January went by in a blink of an eye.  For a number of reasons, Maia's arrival has been feeling more "real".   

Most of the month we spent doing small things to get ready: organizing the clothes we had already received by size (newborn, 0-3 months, etc) and washing the cloth parts of items we had received from friends and family.   I will organize them more neatly when all the showers are over, but at least the sizes are all organized :)    

Josh also decided to paint her room about a week ago.  We both had a favorite "theme" that we couldn't decide on and registered for both, but both had green and pink as a common set of base colors, so he went with green for the walls, so that in the future a boy could  occupy the room as well (if we are blessed or destined to have another:)).   He worked so hard and got it all done in one day to surprise me.   The brown curtains are temporary :)

Here's a belly pic from week 29

She was approximately 17 inches long, crown to feet, in fetal position.  

Week 30 came and went as well, but hitting the "30's" made her arrival seem so much closer.   

My belly seems to have really "popped" out the last 2 weeks or so.   I cannot fit in most booths at restaurants, definitely not in class at Stan State, and I'm constantly running into counters and other belly high items LOL :)

Baby shower #1 was also this past weekend, thrown by my sister in law Anji, my bro-in-law's gf Jen, and Josh's stepmom Lynette.  They really went all out and everything looked great.  My nephew's girlfriend also made some really awesome cupcakes.  

 Clothesline for a memory game

Close up of some of the clothes

Gifts and diaper raffle table

gift bags for the guests :) 

Food table

Jordan's flower and vase cupcakes :) Yum!!!

Toby's cotton candy martinis :)   I heard they were good :)

The letters on the table were later put up in her room over her crib.  Josh couldn't wait to put them up :) 

Josh's mother also sent a package for Maia :) 

My dear, dear long time childhood friend Carisa has also been very generous in letting us use her stroller :) I am constantly amazed how blessed we are to have such great and wonderful people in our lives :) 
We went to Womb with a view again on the 1st, but Maia refused to uncover her face, other than her big cheeks, and then eventually turned her back to us, so we will be going back again this Monday.   We did see she was in the transverse position (laying left to right) and at her appointment yesterday she was in breech position (head up and feet down).   I am hoping she will turn head down before she decides to come out, however the added fun of having a bicornute uterus means that she may have a harder time with the narrower part of the "heart" shape part of the uterus at the bottom.   I guess we'll see :)    

Which brings us to today's adventure....
I woke up this morning to bright red spotting-not a lot, like we saw back in September or in previous pregnancies, but since the bright red color is a warning sign, because it indicates fresh blood, I thought I'd better call my perinatal nurse that checks in with me once a week from the premature clinic in Santa Clara.  I had also had some pinching type pains that I thought were round ligament pain/stretching pains.   Apparently the combination of these two, with my background urged them to send me to labor and delivery right away.   I went to the restroom again and the bleeding had decreased so thought I'd hold out to at least my work lunch and see how I felt then.   The bleeding continued to decrease but when I called she even more urgent that I go immediately to labor and delivery to be monitored and checked out.  Even if it was nothing to worry about, she wanted to be safe than sorry.   So, in the space of about 10-15 minutes, I had to alert work, the office, and Josh as to what was going on and leave quickly to get to Modesto within the time I told them I'd be there.   
On the ride from Tracy to Modesto, I felt pains going up my spine and a tightening in my stomach like a metal ball trying to push through my skin.  My whole lower abdominal area started to get a dull ache and I could feel pressure from the inside side of the cervix.   I started to get more and more worried as I got closer to home.   I have never made it this far, and my only experiences with pain in that capacity all had to do with miscarriages-but I could still feel her moving around :)
We checked into Labor and Delivery and got signed in and got a room.   My vitals were taken and the fetal monitor went on my tummy to track contractions and movement and Maia's heartbeat.  There were definitely a couple of uncomfortable, slightly painful contractions happening about every 30 minutes or so.  After being monitored and an exam, it was shown that the cervix was still closed *yay!* and that what I was experiencing was most likely practice contractions/Braxton Hicks.   I was relieved that Maia was okay and that she wasn't coming today (the to do list that was running through my brain).   My crazy brain remembered to bring all the paperwork with us (birth plan, preadmit forms, etc.) just in case.   I did have a slight elevated fever probably related to the congestion I've had, but nothing to be worried about.  
This whole experience today has made me realize just how close we are and I am even more determined to finish the last couple big "to Do's" on our list.   It was kind of like a practice run or drill for the big day.   Josh was awesome the whole time-keeping me from freaking out, making sure things at home were taken care of in case we were not there for awhile while he waited for me to come home from Tracy and even talked to Maia during the whole process :)   
I will be 32 weeks on Monday and will be full term *37 weeks?*  in just over a month.   Here's hoping February and March go by quickly.